Pumpkin Spice
by Vietta
Summary: Vincent visits Tifa at the bar and Tifa is serving a festive new ale! Written for x-shadoweddawn-x of DeviantArt


Tifa's thin hand slid into the soapy beer mug, a rag between her hand and the glass, as she washed the remnants of specialty ale and lipstick left behind by the customer who had just paid her tab. Dark brown eyes roamed the near empty bar in front of her as she scrubbed, the pink stain of lipstick stubbornly sticking to the rim of the cup. She watched as Cloud, who had finally been coerced by years of asking to be a permanent waiter at Seventh Heaven instead of a delivery boy, gathered up more mugs for her to wash, collecting the money they had earned for the night from the few customers left in the bar. Tifa set the now clean mug on the drying rack beside her and reached for another, debating with herself on whether or not she should announce last call, when the bell above the door chimed to signal the entrance of another customer.

Tifa looked up, dark hair swaying over her face as it came undone from the loose ponytail she had tied it in, and a smile crossed her delicate pink lips. "Vincent! Good to see you!"

The dark-haired man nodded at her and slid onto a stool at the bar, his cowl turned up to cover the majority of his face as usual. From what Tifa could see of his face, she could tell he was a little less troubled than normal by his demons, something she was glad to see. Vincent's thin, pale face always seemed haunted when his demons tormented him, but tonight his features were handsome and calm as normal. His red eyes turned to her as he spoke, his deep voice hard to hear even when the bar was quiet.

Tifa smiled as she missed what he said, drying her hands on the apron tied around her shapely hips. "You'll have to speak up, Vincent. I can't hear you through your cape."

Vincent pulled his cowl down with a soft chuckle, a sound Tifa rarely heard. "I'd like a drink."

"Any preference?" Tifa smiled, knowing Vincent would drink whatever she put in front of him without complaint.

"Anything is fine." Vincent seemed to be in a good mood.

Tifa smiled and poured Vincent a tall mug of the special ale she had been serving all night, wondering why the normally brooding man was in such a good mood. "Alright, here."

Vincent took the glass and took a sip, his nose wrinkling as he quickly set it back down. "What the hell is that?"

Tifa giggled, "The special until fall is over; pumpkin spice ale."

"Why must pumpkin be in everything I eat, drink, or see, until December?" Vincent pushed the glass back to Tifa.

"Because it's the holidays! After this, it'll be time for peppermint to be in everything." Tifa dumped his mug and began washing it, noticing that Cloud was helping the last customer out of the bar. She considered it helping, but in reality Cloud was dumping the drunk onto the street in a highly unceremonious fashion.

"I can't wait until January when all the food goes back to normal." Vincent watched Tifa clean his glass. "Can I just have water?"

"Sure." Tifa set the freshly scrubbed mug down in front of Vincent and poured water into it from a pitcher behind the bar. "But you're forgetting that by February everything will be chocolates and roses, in April everything will have chocolate and bunny themes, and by July if there isn't some kind of specialty lemonade at every restaurant in town I'll be damned surprised."

"Well then, it's official. There is nothing good about the holidays. The music is terrible and they screw with my food." Vincent sighed and reached for his water.

Tifa smiled, watching Cloud lock the front doors of the bar. "Are we done, Cloud?"

Cloud nodded, his quiet voice barely able to carry across the room. "Yeah, we're done."

Tifa smiled, putting the corks and caps back on their respective bottles of wine and liquor. "Okay, you can probably just wash up the tables and be done for the night. I'll sweep up."

Cloud nodded and silently began scrubbing tables, his back to Vincent and Tifa. Tifa smiled at Vincent as she prepared to cork the last bottle she had. "Sure you don't want to give that ale a try again?"

"Ale is not to my taste, even when not littered with pumpkin flavoring." Vincent drained his glass of water with a small snort.

Tifa giggled and stoppered up the bottle. "I guess not everyone enjoys being festive. Even Cloud managed to drink a full glass, though, Vincent."

Vincent looked over his shoulder at the blond man. "Did you, Cloud?"

Cloud nodded, speaking louder so Vincent could hear him. "Yeah, tasted like crap. It was like pouring rotten pumpkin juice into crappy beer."

"Then why did you drink the full glass?" Vincent raised an eyebrow as Cloud gathered up dishes, the hero looking very out of place with a tray full of dirty glasses and empty bottles balanced carefully on one war-calloused hand.

Cloud turned, a rarely seen smile ghosting across his lips as he looked at Tifa. "Because she wouldn't stop talking about the damned ale until I drank it."

Tifa set her hands on her hips, pink lips twisted downward into a frown. "Hey!"

"So it is best if I drink a glass and shut her up?" Vincent ignored Tifa's indignant protest.

Cloud nodded, taking the glasses behind the bar and setting them into the sink, "Unless you can think of another way to get her to shut up about it."

"One comes to mind but I don't think she'd take me up on the idea." Vincent held his glass out to Tifa, red eyes shining with mirth under a frame of black hair. "Barkeep; a glass of that fine, fine ale you keep talking about."

"You guys can stuff it!" Tifa frowned, eyes narrow, but she poured Vincent another glass anyways.

"What are we stuffing where?" Cloud chuckled as he tossed the empty beer bottles into a trash can.

"That's not a question you ask a lady!" Tifa tossed her soapy rag at Cloud, her aim good enough to catch him in the side of the face.

Cloud peeled the rag off his cheek with a sound of disgust. "Ladies don't throw things, Tifa. Ladies also don't wear V-neck shirts that barely qualify as shirts. Sometimes I think you just parade around in long sports bras."

Tifa turned red with embarrassment and tossed a dry rag at Cloud, the only rag left in her arsenal. "My clothes are fine!"

"Whatever. I'm going to go and wash my face. Don't have too much fun, you two." Cloud rolled his eyes at Tifa and set the rags in the sink before walking off to the bathroom.

Tifa frowned, rounding on Vincent. "Do you think I'm a lady?"

Vincent blinked, not sure if he was being asked a question that had a right answer. "Well…yes?"

"Why the pause!?" Tifa huffed and grabbed her broom, stepping into the bar to sweep up.

Vincent rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the dark amber drink in front of him, realizing that even if he had said nothing he would have been in trouble. He toyed with the ale and took another sip, unable to stomach the disgusting pumpkin-flavored alcohol. He looked at Tifa behind him as she angrily swept, catching the look on her face as she turned. He sighed as she realized that she was genuinely upset and looked at the ale again, his stomach and tongue telling him that if he drank it he would be regretting it.

Tifa swept all the dust from the bar out the front door; the cool Fall air whisking it back inside. She huffed and swept the dust back up again, letting the door fall closed with a tinkle from the bell it sported. She would need to find a way to make it sound less like a doorbell and more like jingle bells before Christmas rolled around. It would make her happier to have the bar festive. She swept the dust into a corner and turned to fetch the dustpan, running headlong into the silent Vincent who had been standing behind her waiting for her to finish. She jumped in shock, unable to suppress a yelp of surprise. She blushed dark and took a step back as Vincent sniggered, quickly raising his cowl to hide a smirk. She frowned at him, still bitter about Cloud's comments to how she dressed. "I'm trying to sweep, Vincent."

Vincent held out his glass. "Here. I finished it."

Tifa blinked at the empty glass, taking it with a bewildered look. "Why? I thought you hated it and were just messing with me like Cloud was."

"Well, part of it was messing with you; the other part was to be….festive? Like you wanted?" Vincent crossed his arms over his chest, wishing Cloud hadn't picked on Tifa. Every woman in the world was self-conscious about her looks; even the women like Tifa who never showed it. Vincent felt that it wasn't right for Cloud to hit such a tender spot in Tifa's self-esteem when he was such a close friend of hers.

Tifa frowned at him, dark bangs drifting across her face. "It wasn't just to shut me up?"

"There are better ways to shut you up, Tifa." Vincent chuckled, noting how Tifa's hair fell over her eyes.

"Oh, you already said that, huh?" Tifa blushed and held the glass, starting to feel cornered by the obvious height difference between her and Vincent. Not to mention the fact that his cape tended to fan out to the sides and add to his looming presence. She looked up at him, hoping her blush didn't show. "So, how would you rather shut me up?"

"I'd rather not say… I don't think you'd be keen on the idea I have." Vincent looked Tifa in the eye; mostly to keep himself from looking lower. He snuck peeks at her large breasts every time he got the chance, but it seemed like the wrong moment for it.

"Oh, really? What makes you think that?" Tifa raised an eyebrow, wanting to push her hair out of her face but afraid that if she moved her hands she'd drop the glass. She was holding it tight to keep her hands from shaking. Vincent had definitely invaded her personal space and it made her feel vulnerable.

Vincent reached his normal hand out and pressed her bangs out of her eyes, holding them to the side of her face. "Trust me on this one; you won't look at me right if I shut you up how I want."

Tifa felt her blush grow darker and she clenched the glass tight. "Tell me or I'll make you drink another glass!"

Vincent chuckled and stepped closer to her. "So it's tell or be tortured?"

Tifa nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat. "Yeah. It is."

"Alright. If you insist." Vincent leaned down and captured Tifa's lips lightly, holding them for only a moment before pulling away.

Tifa frowned as Vincent pulled away before she was ready for him too, a small sound of aroused annoyance rising from her throat once his lips left. "That's not how you shut a girl up!"

Vincent stepped back, chuckling softly. "I'll try harder next time, then."

Tifa blushed and shoved passed Vincent to get to the counter, the flush in her cheeks spreading down her neck. It had only taken about thirty seconds, but she was pretty sure she had just developed a crush for the dark, brooding man laughing at her as he made his way towards the door. She looked up with a frown as she set his glass in the sink. "You didn't actually drink it, did you?"

Vincent laughed and opened the door. "Not a drop."

* * *

**Author's Note: This story is for x-shadoweddawn-x of deviantArt for albedosreqium's fall story swap! The request was for a Zack, Tifa, or Vincent pairing and, well, since I can't see Zack and Tifa working together and I definitely can't write Zack and Vincent together and getting all three of them into the same story is hard, I made a Tifa/Vincent! I hope it's as cute as I think it is, because I find it adorable! And I haven't written Tifa very much…I may need to work on that.**


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